SELF DRIVE HIRE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Insurance: The inclusive Fully Comprehensive insurance covers ‘Insured and an Additional Driver’, both of whom must be 25-70 years old. Charge for any other additional driver is £75 per day, subject to our insurer’s approval. We may also on some occasions do a credit check on the hirer.

2. Age & Licence Restrictions: Prices are based on drivers being aged 25 to 70 years of age. All drivers must have held a full licence for a minimum of five years, must have no more than 3 points (current speeding points) on their licence and are subject to approval on completion of a Synergy insurance proposal form. Please note that is a criminal offence for any unauthorised drivers to drive our vehicles. Anyone with drink and drug convictions over the previous 5 years will not be accepted. Any other convictions will be subject to our insurer’s approval.
The insured vehicle shall not be out on hire to or driven by any person:
a) under or over the age as specified in these terms
b) who has held the driving licence to drive a vehicle of the same class for less than 5 years
c) who has his/her driving licence suspended at any time
d) who has any physical defect, infirmity, suffers from fits, diabetes or any heart complaint
e) who has his/her motor insurance declined or renewal refused or a policy cancelled or special terms imposed as a result of claims experience by any motor insurance.
f) who is engaged wholly or partly in the profession of or is a professional sports person
g) who is a member of any foreign armed forces
h) who, whilst driving, has been involved in more than one accident during the three years previous to the hire.
Overseas licenses are accepted subject to the above conditions.

3. Bookings and Cancellation: We require a Booking Fee of £250.00 plus VAT, refunded against the cost of hire but non refundable upon cancellation. Cancellations 29 – 15 days prior to hire will incur a 25% charge of agreed rental amount. Cancellations within 14 days and up to 48 hours will incur a 35% charge of agreed rental amount. Cancellations within 48 hours prior to hire date – no refund will be given. If hirer wants to extend the hire period they need to inform us immediately to see if car is available for extended hire. Driving the car for an extended period without notifying us means the car will be reported as stolen and the hirer is no longer insured.

4. Gift Vouchers: Cannot be redeemed for monetary value, refunded or transferred to another party.

5. Excess & Security Deposit: Used for (A) as a security bond. (B) As payments towards any mechanical damage which is not covered by our insurers, i.e. tyres, wheels, clutch, gearbox and which was sustained during the hire period, excluding normal wear and tear, due to misuse and abuse. The excess deposit is held for 48 hours pending inspection for any damage caused during your hire to the vehicle’s mechanics, bodywork and interior. (C) As an insurance excess against any accidental damage or loss caused to the vehicle by a third party or the hirer. The hirer is liable for the amount shown as Excess Deposit. (D) Additional charges incurred during hire for late returns, for excess mileage and, or, petrol reimbursement charges, parking fines, congestion charges, etc. (we will charge a £25 +VAT admin charge for processing any of these (E) In case a car is off the road due to an accident caused by hirer, the hirer will be responsible to reimburse Synergy for loss of revenue until the car is roadworthy again up to a maximum of 2 weeks hire charge based on hire rates at the time of hire. The Excess Security Deposit is as per the tariff. In the event of an accident, no replacement vehicle will be offered, no refund is available and the excess deposit will be retained until a quote for any necessary repairs has been received. (F) In cases where the full excess deposit is used due to damage caused to the vehicle, any additional cost incurred during hire i.e. such as excess mileage, parking fines will also be charged to the hirer.

6. Accident : In the event of an accident (whether or not a third party is involved) the hirer must complete an insurance claims form and / or a witness statement detailing the circumstances of the accident within 14 days of the accident and fully cooperate with our insurer. In the event that a third party is involved in an accident with the hirer and the third party fails to admit liability and / or fails to provide full and accurate details including details of his / her insurer at the time of the accident, then the hirer is liable to pay the excess deposit to our company. In the event of a disputed insurance claim the hirer shall in the first instance pay to Synergy the appropriate insurance excess deposit. This amount will be refunded to the hirer in the event that the insurer deems it appropriate to bring legal proceedings against the third party and / or his or her insurer and such proceedings result in the full recovery of the excess amount. In the event of an accident which involves a third party and his or her insurer admits liability for the accident in writing, then no excess deposit is payable by the hirer.

7. Breakdown : In the event that a car breaks down or is damaged whilst on hire then the hirer must notify a member of the hire company with immediate effect. A car must not be abandoned without first locking and alarming the vehicle and adequate provision must be made to ensure the safety of third parties who may collide with the car. The hirer should not continue to drive a car if to do so would be likely to cause mechanical and / or other damage to the car. Care must be taken when a warning light appears within the car.

8. Liability: Synergy’s liability is limited to a refund of the hire charge. No consequential loss liability will be covered.

9. Use of Vehicle: The hirer may use the vehicle for the purpose of their business and for social domestic and pleasure purposes. The vehicles may not be used for any purposes for which they are not expressly designed. Further, the hirer will not use or permit the vehicles to be used for hire, driving tuition, towing, racing or pace-making, or for competing in any rally, or any other form of motor sport, track days, or for any illegal purpose whatsoever. If the vehicle has been reported to being driven erratically whilst on hire or dangerously then Synergy have the right to demand the vehicle be returned to their premises with immediate effect. No refund of hire charge or booking fee will be made.

10. Petrol: The hirer will need to return the vehicle with the same amount of fuel as noted on your collection. If, however, this is not the case any reimbursement for petrol will be charged at the pump price, plus a surcharge of £10, 00. Please note that all our cars are Petrol engined vehicles and do not take Diesel so please ensure that only petrol is used when filling up our cars just before they are returned from hire. Putting Diesel into a petrol engine causes severe damage for which the hirer will be liable the full excess deposit and loss of revenue until the car is roadworthy again up to a maximum of 2 weeks hire charge based on hire rates at the time of hire.

11. Driver aids: the hirer is prohibited from deactivating at any time any of the driver aids on the vehicles. This includes but is not limited to the following : ABS, PSM, ASR, CST, EDC, DSC. In the event that a hirer has an accident in a car having deactivated any of the vehicle driver aids and the hirer is at fault for causing the accident, then the member shall be liable to Synergy for the entire cost of repairing the damage to the car irrespective of whether it is covered by the self drive hire insurance policy or not. In addition, the hirer shall also be liable for the cost of a replacement vehicle of equivalent standing during that period the car is being repaired.

12. Overseas Travel: Please note most of our cars may not be taken out of the UK. Ireland (Eire) is not part of the UK

13. Hours of Hire: Weekend hire covers from 11am on Friday to 2pm on Monday. 1 day mid week covers from 9am to 9am the following day. 3 day midweek hire covers from 9am Tuesday to 9 am Friday. For cars returned late the standard day rate will be charged to the hirer. Cars have to be returned within one hour of the time the car was due back.

14. Mileage Allowance: The mileage allowance is 100 miles a single day, 200 miles for 2 days, 300 miles for 3 days and weekends and 500 miles per 7 day week. Excess mileage is as per the current tariff.

15. Delivery: Delivery can be arranged throughout the UK, at an additional nominal charge. Please see our Collection and Delivery map for the tariff.

16. Availability: All cars are offered subject to availability, if for any reason the car is unavailable or unroadworthy then our liability is limited in all circumstances to a full refund of the amount that has been prepaid. Synergy has the right to change the exact vehicle specification and colour if necessary and you will be informed of this as early as possible prior to the hire. Synergy have the right to cancel a booking if the weather conditions are deemed to be too dangerous for the driver and vehicle, a full refund would be forthcoming or, if preferred the choice of an alternative date.